motorcyclerider
Star Member
- Jul 4, 2012
- 156
- 3
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- HK
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 7/25/2012
- AOR Received.
- 10/5/2012 - AOR 2: 10/22/2012
- File Transfer...
- 10/14/2012
- Med's Done....
- 7/17/2012
- Interview........
- Waived
- Passport Req..
- 11/8/2012
- VISA ISSUED...
- 11/23/2012
- LANDED..........
- Spring 2013
Here's a summary of our undertaking.
From preparing the sponsorship package, and throughout the process, the most helpful resource for me has been reading the timelines and background information of others who have gone through the whole process before us. Comparing their information with ours helped to ease our minds and give us hope that the process would all work out in the end. So to pay it forward I have written a description of our case and a timeline of our whole process.
Sponsorship Type: Spousal (wife)
Background Information: Married over 6 years with 2 toddlers both born outside of Canada but holding Canadian passports and citizenship cards. We are both Chinese, but I'm a naturalized Canadian citizen. I've been living exclusively outside of Canada for over 10 years, so I'm considered a non-resident for taxes purposes.
Package Set-up: We divided our package into 3 parts: sponsor forms/applicant forms/relationship proof. We put each into a clear folder with a table of contents on the front of each. We made sure to put everything in the order the checklist listed things. And put all three clear folders into 1 big manila envelope. Didn't use staples or paper clips. For small loose items like passport sized photos we put them into a small clear bag with labels of who the picture was. Our proof consisted of about 60 photos, making sure they were of special occasions (wedding, birthdays, birth of our kids, family gatherings etc.) and posing with different people and at different settings. On the back of each photo we put a detailed description of who was in the photo and the setting. We also made copies of things like boarding passes and entry/exit stamps in our passports to show our travel history together. We went with the belief of providing enough quality evidence over pure quantity. Our whole package weighed in at just half a kilogram. We didn't do anything special or extra, everything was filled out in the spaces provided within the forms.
Everything was pretty straight forward for our application. The only thing that worried us was showing intend of return. As proof that I would return to Canada soon, I enrolled in a college course and printed out the payment receipt. I also printed out price quotes for plane tickets. The last thing I did was write out a paragraph explaining our plans once we returned to Canada. That's it. One mistake we made was that we sent it by courier to the P.O. Box address instead of the courier address, but it didn't cause any delays.
Hong Kong Visa Office: Very professional and efficient. They have a very clear cut and exact SOP unlike some other visa offices where you have no clue what to expect next. All communication was through email. The longest wait was for our first stage sponsorship, which took way longer than it should have. The cause of this was that we happened to send our package in during a transition phase where the workload was being divided up between the Mississauga and Ottawa. So our package lingered in Mississauga before then being sent to Ottawa. But I think they have worked out the kinks now, as evidenced by the reduced first stage processing times.
Our Timeline: (4 months and 5 days from start to finish)
Sent: 7/23/2012
Received by CPC-M: 7/25/2012 (2 days)
AOR 1: 10/5/2012 (72 days)
Sponsorship Approval: 10/14/2012 (81 days)
DM 1: eCAS updated to DM 1 and medical results received on 10/17/2012 (84 days)
AOR 2: 10/22/2012 (89 days) - received email from HK on 10/29/2012 (96 days)
PPR: 11/8/2012 (106 days) - via email dated the same day
Passport Sent: 11/9/2012 - via EMS (107 days)
Passport Received by HK: 11/12/2012 (110 days)
Visa Issued: 11/23/2012 (121 days) - same day as eCAS showing “in process”
DM 2: 11/26/2012 (124 days)
Address Change: 11/27/2012 (125 days) - eCAS showing wife's home address as our future Canadian address
COPR: 11/30/2012 (128 days) - via registered mail *all our submitted photos were returned to us
Best of luck to the rest of you waiting for your COPR. I will be more than happy to answer any questions about our undertaking, just send me a PM.
From preparing the sponsorship package, and throughout the process, the most helpful resource for me has been reading the timelines and background information of others who have gone through the whole process before us. Comparing their information with ours helped to ease our minds and give us hope that the process would all work out in the end. So to pay it forward I have written a description of our case and a timeline of our whole process.
Sponsorship Type: Spousal (wife)
Background Information: Married over 6 years with 2 toddlers both born outside of Canada but holding Canadian passports and citizenship cards. We are both Chinese, but I'm a naturalized Canadian citizen. I've been living exclusively outside of Canada for over 10 years, so I'm considered a non-resident for taxes purposes.
Package Set-up: We divided our package into 3 parts: sponsor forms/applicant forms/relationship proof. We put each into a clear folder with a table of contents on the front of each. We made sure to put everything in the order the checklist listed things. And put all three clear folders into 1 big manila envelope. Didn't use staples or paper clips. For small loose items like passport sized photos we put them into a small clear bag with labels of who the picture was. Our proof consisted of about 60 photos, making sure they were of special occasions (wedding, birthdays, birth of our kids, family gatherings etc.) and posing with different people and at different settings. On the back of each photo we put a detailed description of who was in the photo and the setting. We also made copies of things like boarding passes and entry/exit stamps in our passports to show our travel history together. We went with the belief of providing enough quality evidence over pure quantity. Our whole package weighed in at just half a kilogram. We didn't do anything special or extra, everything was filled out in the spaces provided within the forms.
Everything was pretty straight forward for our application. The only thing that worried us was showing intend of return. As proof that I would return to Canada soon, I enrolled in a college course and printed out the payment receipt. I also printed out price quotes for plane tickets. The last thing I did was write out a paragraph explaining our plans once we returned to Canada. That's it. One mistake we made was that we sent it by courier to the P.O. Box address instead of the courier address, but it didn't cause any delays.
Hong Kong Visa Office: Very professional and efficient. They have a very clear cut and exact SOP unlike some other visa offices where you have no clue what to expect next. All communication was through email. The longest wait was for our first stage sponsorship, which took way longer than it should have. The cause of this was that we happened to send our package in during a transition phase where the workload was being divided up between the Mississauga and Ottawa. So our package lingered in Mississauga before then being sent to Ottawa. But I think they have worked out the kinks now, as evidenced by the reduced first stage processing times.
Our Timeline: (4 months and 5 days from start to finish)
Sent: 7/23/2012
Received by CPC-M: 7/25/2012 (2 days)
AOR 1: 10/5/2012 (72 days)
Sponsorship Approval: 10/14/2012 (81 days)
DM 1: eCAS updated to DM 1 and medical results received on 10/17/2012 (84 days)
AOR 2: 10/22/2012 (89 days) - received email from HK on 10/29/2012 (96 days)
PPR: 11/8/2012 (106 days) - via email dated the same day
Passport Sent: 11/9/2012 - via EMS (107 days)
Passport Received by HK: 11/12/2012 (110 days)
Visa Issued: 11/23/2012 (121 days) - same day as eCAS showing “in process”
DM 2: 11/26/2012 (124 days)
Address Change: 11/27/2012 (125 days) - eCAS showing wife's home address as our future Canadian address
COPR: 11/30/2012 (128 days) - via registered mail *all our submitted photos were returned to us
Best of luck to the rest of you waiting for your COPR. I will be more than happy to answer any questions about our undertaking, just send me a PM.
